ANTHRAX Bassist Says Musicians Should Stay Out Of Politics

ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello has slammed artists who insert themselves into politics, believing they can sway people into believing and voting as they would.

"Here's my opinion. I think musicians should play music. I think politics should take care of itself, and it will, believe me," he told Germany's Rock Hard magazine in an interview which was conducted during this year's 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise (see video below). "In America, you see what's going on. It'll take care of itself. I believe everything will work out — eventually, somehow, some way. 'Cause you have to have faith. You have to have it, 'cause human nature, 'cause all of us will take over, and it will all take care of itself. But I think musicians and actors and all that stuff, [actors should] just act, [and] musicians [should] just play."

He continued: "Look, you do what you wanna do. What I do is I play music. It's not my game. I just watch what happens. I pray for the best, and I think human nature will take its course, and it'll all work out."

In just twenty-one days, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive actions while being marred by controversies over his travel ban, his insults of judges and others on Twitter, and worsening infighting among his staff and anonymous backstabbing in the press. Meanwhile, a series of noteworthy disruptions have been staged by Trump's opponents intent on making their voices heard.

"It's a crazy time in our life," Bello said. "It's like one big reality show. And I laugh a lot. Because there's nothing we can do. What can you do about it? What can you do about it right now? You have your vote. The voting went different ways, right?"

He added: "I just have to believe that, at the end of the day, [everyone will be] positive and hopefully things will work out with level heads. All you want is level heads. I just hope things work out. I wanna be positive, and people will have smart minds and level heads. That's what matters."

Asked if he was surprised to see Trump capturing the White House after receiving 304 electoral votes (Trump fell almost three million votes short of Hillary Clinton in the popular vote),Frank said: "Oh, yeah. Because, of course, especially in America, think about it — everybody was saying it was [going to be] Hillary. 'Cause nobody saw it coming. I don't think anybody from around the world… nobody knew it. This is life, though, right? It's peaks, valleys…"

He went on to say: "We'll see what happens. I'd rather look ahead and think positive, 'cause that's all we really have. I don't wanna start thinking negatively. C'mon! There's enough pain in the world. Let's start thinking positive and move on with our lives. Hopefully cool heads prevail. That's what we want."

ANTHRAX has just embarked on its first full European headline tour in more than a decade. All shows are seeing the band celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of its classic "Among The Living" by performing the LP live in its entirety along with fan favorites from throughout the band's rich 35-year career.

In support of this trek, ANTHRAX will release a limited tour edition of its latest studio album, "For All Kings", on February 17. In addition to the regular album, it will include "Vice Of the People" (previously only available in Japan) as well as a bonus disc of demo versions of several of the album's songs.